Accuracy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Telequipment]

See here we go again, All you pro's out there missing the point, glad your not doctors, you'd scare me to death, my point IS, for a hobbyist  like me, who enjoys the hobby making things that works is the fun, I at my level just cannot see the point of measuring down to 6,7,8,9,10,11,digits or what ever else. AND as note a" HOBBYIST"  making all these measurements down to .000001 or whatever is just every so slightly Anal. That's all, reel your necks back in and calm down a bit, so some of you are pro's that's fine. I'm not, I think by some of the replies ,some of you should take a step back and take a good look at yourselves. for some of us it's a hobby isn't it.

Did you miss the part where we said sometimes measurement is the hobby? Obviously you don't need that sort of thing if that's not what you're interested in, but don't try to say precision is useless because hobby.

Oh I just give up

[AlfBaz]

Oh I just give up

Sounds like you gave up a long time ago

Dou you want to know if there is reason for precision and accuracy or do you just want to be argumentative?

You must understand that interest in electronics spans a massive field and if the part of it you are interested in does not involve this sort of thing it doesn't mean there is no need for it.

If you are blinking leds or wiring up 2 way light switches then great, a set of test lamps will suffice but if you have an interest in analogue electronics and use opamps other than 741's then you would be wasting the advancement in readily available analogue IC's if you don't delve down into parasitics. That's one of the beauties of high precision measuring gear like multimeters. You can use them to measure extremely small signals or differences in them prior to designing a circuit to measure and utilise them. If you don't have the precision to characterise these signals then the output of circuit you design will most likely be giving you nothing but amplified matter that you don't know (or seem to care) exists.

Whilst accuracy also has its place, especially for those who are interested in metrology, precision and repeatability is where its at with these meters. It opens up a vast array of ideas and possibilities which you will inevitably be blind to with lesser equipment.

Here's something interesting, in my small lab measuring a thermistor designed for temperature, feeding the data into the pc it can measure a difference in temperature between me, my wife and our pet dog entering the room. Granted, utterly useless at this point in time but this may become useful in some other application further down the line.

[AlfBaz]

Here's something interesting, in my small lab measuring a thermistor designed for temperature, feeding the data into the pc it can measure a difference in temperature between me, my wife and our pet dog entering the room. Granted, utterly useless at this point in time but this may become useful in some other application further down the line.

...and another one, again with the thermistor and trend plot, as I near my finger towards it the temperature starts rising when it gets within 10mm. On the trend plot the jump looks huge but its only minute changes in resistance, again undetectable without high precision measurement

[Telequipment]

Oh I just give up

Sounds like you gave up a long time ago

[Telequipment]

Oh I just give up

Sounds like you gave up a long time ago

Thanks for the insult I appreciate it   

[Telequipment]

Thanks for the insult I appreciate it   

[AlfBaz]

Oh I just give up

Sounds like you gave up a long time ago

if its any consolation I meant relative to the start of the thread

[Lightages]

Yes there are sometimes reasons to worry about more than 0.1% accuracy. And there are many other situations where 1% is good enough. So?

[Anson]

Part of my hobby is buying and restoring older equipment. And every once in a while I do need the extra resolution and accuracy.

[robrenz]

Just because I enjoy it. just because I can, just because it can be very educational, Just because it allows me to calibrate other equipment. Just because its fun, just because I don't have to have a rational explanation.

[Paul Moir]

Yes there are sometimes reasons to worry about more than 0.1% accuracy. And there are many other situations where 1% is good enough. So?

Yeah, but that's like three digits.

I've tried to live by the idea that if I'm using more than 4 digits of precision (in anything) then I'm doing something wrong.

[vk6zgo]

Here's something interesting, in my small lab measuring a thermistor designed for temperature, feeding the data into the pc it can measure a difference in temperature between me, my wife and our pet dog entering the room. Granted, utterly useless at this point in time but this may become useful in some other application further down the line.

...and another one, again with the thermistor and trend plot, as I near my finger towards it the temperature starts rising when it gets within 10mm. On the trend plot the jump looks huge but its only minute changes in resistance, again undetectable without high precision measurement

No,that's sensitivity!

[Rick Law]

I am not a professional EE guy.  My projects are just for fun, for learning, and to keep my mind active.  I don't need to do any of them, consequently any equipment I use for them are not need based.

So, I don't really need more accuracy, but at times, I sure can use more accuracy.

For example, I was going to validate something I know is true, but I want to experiment and see for myself: such as resistors increase in resistance as it get hotter.  I like to do a plot.  I like to compare carbon film against metal film resistors.  I like to compare if the drop between 20C to 10C is the same as 30 to 20C...  I don't need it, but I sure like a more accurate temperature-probe.  Until I get a good temperature probe, I can get to square-one with this project.

Right now, I am (re)doing an Arduino voltmeter (converting a one time volt logger to something I can use again).  I can buy a DT830B for less than I spend on the project so far, and it would be more accurate, more flexible, and better protected than a a wire into the bare Arduino ADC.  But just clicking BUY on ebay is not nearly as educational nor is it as much fun.

I don't really need a Porsche 911 Turbo, but I sure like to have one...  I take that over even a Ferrari.  I don't really need it...  No one really need that much car.  A Fiat or a KIA will get you from point A to point B just the same...

[AlfBaz]

No,that's sensitivity!

Sensitivity which will be undetectable without the extra digits. At this time my measurement techniques are pedestrian, to say the least, it's the trend of these insignificant digits that reveals repeatable results, without which I would have no change at all